Removal of superficial liquid from cinematographic films



eb L. T. TROLAND ET AL REMOVAL OF SU PERFICIAL LIQUID FROM CINEMATOGRAPHIC FILMS Filed Aug. 14, 1925 '2 Sheets-Sheet l leonardli'froZan/d a/hrv L's L. T. TROLAND ET AL Fb. s, 1927.

REMOVAL OF SUPERFICIAL LIQUID FROM GINEMATOGRAPHIC FILMS Filed Aug. 14, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m wlwwl n a Patented Feb. 8,"19 27..

UNITED STATES 1,616,642 PATENT OFFICE.

LEPNARD T. TROLAND, OF MALDEN, AND J ARVIS M. ANDREWS, OF WOLLASTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORSTO TECHNICOLOR MOTION PICTURE CORPORATION, OI BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

REMOVAL OF SUIERFICIAL LIQUID FROM CINEMATOGRAPHIC FILMS.

Application filed August 14, 1923. Serial No. 657.332.

This invention relates to the removal of liquid adhering to surfaces such as film treating liquid adhering to the surface of a cinematographic film as it leaves the liquid,

and more particularly to the removal of liquid adhering to a film which is wet only on one side. i 1

One object of the invention is to remove the surface liquid without causing it to spatter; for example, in the case of a cinematographic film wet only on one side it is freuently a desideratum to prevent the liquid roin spattering upon the. other side of the film. Another object is to break the .pellicles brid'gin the sprocket holes and toremove the liquid-in the pellicles without permitting 7 this-liquid to spatter or otherwisecontact with the side or sides of the film. A further object of the invention is to prevent contact of any part of the apparatus with that portion of the film in which the sprocket holes appear before providing for the definite removal of a substantial part of any liquid which they may contain. Another object of the invention is o remove'said excess of liquid from the surface of the film and from the sprocket holes in the film, upon the same side of the film and substantially in the same direction. 1

.One method and means as representative of the invention by which may be put into practice is described in the following specification, reference being had to theattached drawings which form apart of this specification in whichzv Fig. 1 is'a front elevation of the apparatus; a I Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section;

I Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion-of the apparatus; F i'g. 41s a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5 is front elevation of the block which contains the air passageways as hereinafter described;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of 5; y I ig. 7 is a rear elevation vof said block;

Fig. 8 is a front view of a modification;.

5 Fig. 9'is a section on the line 8- -8 of Fi 8; and Fig. 10 is-a section on the line 99 of i the illustrat on theapparati s s shown as applied to a machine for coloring one side of a motion picture film without wetting the other side. The film F floats over the surface of the coloring liquid 1 in tank 2 and thence passes upwardly'under roller 3 past the apparatus hereinafter described and thence over roller 4. The rollers 3 and 4 are journaled in a frame comprising sides 5 and 6 coniiect-edby cross-piece 7 and supported on suitable standards 8. The roller 3 is somewhat narrower than the space between the marginal perforations of the film so that -pellicles of liquid bridging the sprocket holes do not contact with the roller.

The device for removing the superficial liquid from the film comprises .a block 9 which may be formed of hard rubber or other suitable material. This block has a curved front face 10 over which the film slides between the marginal guides 11. The central portion 12 of the front face is recessed as are also the portions 13 (Fig. 5), and between the recesses 12 and 13 is a transverse groove 14 adapted to receive the transverse portion 15 of a T-sha ed tubular member 16. Adjacent the gui es 11 are slots 17 extending into the body of the block and converging to the transverse cylindrical opening 20 (.Fig. 6). Thus the film in sliding over the face of the block engages the block only on the surfaces 18 and 19 outside the picture areas. The transverse cylindrical opening 20 is closed at opposite ends by means of caps (18) threaded into the ends of the opening; and leadin from the center of the opening 20 is an out at 20 into which a pipe 21 is tightly fitted.

Leading rearwardly and downwardly- (Fig. 2 from the groove 14 is a groove 22- which ares outwardly at its rearward end as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, and the T- shaped tubular device 16 is mounted in these rooves. The transverse ortion 15 of the T-shaped device is provi ed with a lon itudinal slot 40 whose length is substanti ly efiqqlal to that of the picture areas on the and whose angular position about the axis of the groove 14 is offset, preferably in they direction of film travel from a radius perpendicular t0 the film (Fig. 2 A 661- lar 23 slides on the tube 16 and has a tapered portion shaped to seat "in the flared end of thegroove 21, the collar being held in seated position by means cif a spring 24 abutting against a collar 25 fixed on the tube 16. To remove the T-shaped tube for cleaning purposes the collar 23 is pulled to the rear together by the cross-piece 27 slides into grooves in the sides of the block 9 and is held in position by means of set screws 28.

The ends 26 of this member are bifurcated at 29 to straddle screws 39 threaded into the under sides of the side pieces 5 and 6.

'Spring catches 30 are pivotally mounted in grooves 31 in the sides of the block'9, the catches swinging on pivot screws 32 and being yieldingly urged outwardly by springs 33 seating in recesses 34 in the bottoms of the grooves 31. The catches 30 are provided with slots 35 concentric with the pins 32 and screws 36'extend through the slots to limit the movement of the catches. The free ends of the catches are provided with hooks 37 which hook into openings 38 in the sides 5 and 6. To mount the block on the sides 5 and 6, the catches 30 are pressed inwardly until the hooks 37 are wholly within the grooves 31, the block is then slipped between the sides 5 and 6 somewhat above the screws 39, the block is then slid downwardly along the lower faces of the sides 5 and 6 until the bifurcations 29 straddle the screws 39 whereupon the catches 30 snap downwardly into the openings 38 as shown in Fig. 4.

In operation the film is drawn from the liquid 1 in dve tank 2 under roll 3 between the margina guides 11, resting u on the edges 18 and ends '19 of the slot 1 The tube"'21 is connected to a suction device and the tube 16 to a source of air pressure. The

suction through tube 21 causes air to flow through the sprocket holes, thence through the grooves 17 into chamber 20, and thence out through chamber 21' to pipe 21. This flow of air breaks the liquid pellicles bridging the sprocket holes and also-prevents the liquid fiowingdown the film from passing through the s rocket holes to the upper sur-" face of the fi m. The flow of air through the slot 40 in tube' 16 roduces a wall of air across the surface of t e film, and the superficial liquid is rolled backwardly down the film to the tank or trough 2.

An important feature'of the invention consists in inclining the air jet issuing from slot 40 somewhat in the direction of film travel instead of in the opposite direction. In the illustration given, the axis of this jet forms an angle of 18 with thev film, but this angle may be varied to suit different conditions of operation. This inclination serves to prevent the superficial liquid from being blown through the sprocket holes and thence spattering on the opposite side of the film and also permits the liquid which is rolled backwardly to flow down the film in a uniform sheet-so that the film is not streaked as it would be if the liquid tended to flow in rivulets. Furthermore this arrangement elimiis also desirable to locate the slot 40 near the forward ends of slots 17 and to separate the slots 17 from the central space 12 by film-engaging walls such as shown at18 in Fig. 5.

The modification shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 is preferably constructed of metal in the following manner: tube 50, which corresponds to the block 9 in the first embodiment, is joined to a tube 51 to form a T- shaped structure, the ends of the tube 50 being closed. On the upper side of tube 50 are two slots 52 corresponding to the slots 17 in the first embodiment. Surrounding these slots on the outside of the tube are rectan ular chambers 53, the outer walls 54 of which rise somewhat higher than the other walls and are curved to serve as marginal guides for the film. The inner walls 55 are curved as shown in Fig. 9 in the same way that the face of the block 9 is curved in the first embodiment. Mounted on tube 50 are two spring clips 56 adapted to receive the ends of the cross part 57 of a tubular device 58 similar to the device 15, 16 in the first embodiment. The cross part 57 is provided with a narrow slot 59 corresponding to slot 40 in the first embodiment. The device may be mounted in any suitable way. In use air is drawn downwardly through the chambers 53 thence through tube 50 and thence through tube 51; and air is blown through tube 58 thence through the slot 59 .in the cross part 57. The walls 55 engage the film just outside the picture areas so that the emulsion is not scratched and the marginal perforations of the film pass over the chambers 53 so that air is drawn therethrough to break and remove the liquid pellicles as well as to prevent liquid flowing upwardly through the sprocket holes as a result of the jet of air lmpinging upon the lower side of the film fromslot 59. As in the first embodiment the slot 59 preferably extends substantiall to the inner edges of the marginal perfhrations. In this modification the angle at which the jet of air strikes the film may be varied by swinging the T-shaped tubular device 57 58 about the axis of the part 57 thevspring clips preferably having sufficient tension to hold the device in adjusted position. Walls keeps the air jet from blowing through the sprocket holes.

o claim: v

1. The method of removing superficial liquid from a cinematographic film which comprises causing its marginal roll and sprocket holes to pass over suction openings, and causing'its central portions to pass over an air blast nozzle, said openings and nozzle being presented to the same side of the film.

2. The method of removing superficial liquid from a cinematographic film which is I wet only on one side comprising causing the marginal rows of sprocket holes to-pass over suction openings upon the wetted side of the film and its central portion to pass over an air blast nozzle directed against the same side of the film.

3. The method of treating a cinematographic film comprising the steps of passing the film-"over the surface of a body of liquid, withdrawing the film from said liquid and passing said film with its dry or untreated side against a roller which contacts between the rows of sprocket holes only and with its wet or treated side into successive engagement with suction openings which draw air through the sprocket holes and past an air nozzle which blows against the central portion of said film in the direction of movement thereof.

4. The method of treating a cinematographic film which h asbeen wet on one side, comprising passing the wet side of said film over a pair of suction openings, said openings being so disposed and of such size that each will overla a marginal row of sprocket holes in said fi m.

5. The. method of removing superficial liquid from a cinematographic film, C0111 prising passing the wet surface of said film over a pair of suction openings and over an air-jet nozzle, said suction openings being of such size and so spaced as to act upon the marginal rows of sprocket holes in said film and said air-jet nozzle being so shaped and so disposed as to direct a sheet of air transversely across said film, and applying suction and air pressure to said suction openings and air-jet nozzle respectively.

6. The method of removing superficial 'liquid from a cinematographic film which comprises passing the Wetted surface upwardly past a sheet jet of air inclined in the direction of film travel, thereby to roll' the liquid in sheet form backwardly down the film.

7. The method of removing superficial liquid from a cinematographic film comprising passing the central portion of the Wetted surface thereof past a thin stream of air inclinedin the direction of film travel and holes in said film, and an air nozzle adapt ed to direct a sheet ofair against the film transversely thereof.

9. An apparatus for removing superficial dye from a colored cinematographic film comprising in combination a dye trough, means adapted to feed said film over the surface of said dye, means for withdrawing the film from'said dye including a guide roller adapted to contact with the central portion only of the untreated side of said film, suction means adapted to withdraw entrained dye from the sprocket'holes of saidfilm, and compressed air means for directiirig an oblique stream of air against said 10. An apparatus for treating. one side of a cinematographic film comprising means for wetting one side of the film and means for guiding the filmfrom said wetting means including a roller which contacts only with the central portion of the other side thereof.

Signed by -us at Boston, Massachusetts,

this 9th day of August, 1923.

LEONARD T. TROLAND. JARVIS M. ANDREWS. 

